First Look ♦ Framed Alaskan Alloy

By Michael McColgan

When I found out I was going to be testing the new Framed Alaskan, I was pretty excited.  There’s been a lot of rumblings on the interwebs about Framed lately so I was pretty stoked to hop on one to see if the hoopla is justified. Right out of the box, I was impressed with the looks of this beauty.  The sanded welds, paired with the matte black paint job, give the frame that smooth carbon like look, with just a little bit of color for some pop, this is a sweet looking frame.  Shipping mostly assembled, I just had to put a few pieces together and it was time to ride.

The Alaskan comes with parts designed to emphasize value and performance at this price point with Race Face Turbine cranks and BB,  SRAM X7 10 speed rear derailleur/shifter, and BB7 brakes.  Framed brand handlebars, seatpost, and rims paired with Quando hubs round out the package.

As a studious follower of Fat-bike.com, you probably noticed that the bike pictured for testing and the bike listed on their site is slightly different.    The handlebars and seatpost will be Framed brand on production models, and Framed offers the Alaskan with a winter or summer package, the main difference being a carbon fork vs a RockShox Bluto and Vee Rubber Bulldozers vs Maxxis Mammoth tires.  Also, when purchasing, you can add a Wolftooth 42T cog for $75.  The winter package with Wolftooth has an MSRP of $1624.99.  Since we’re all praying for the Snowpocolypse, I’m testing the winter version.

While my initial thoughts on this bike are positive, I’ve only had a couple of night rides in some very light snow and one CX race on it.  Since I’m testing the winter set up for the Alaskan, I’m going to put in my ‘due diligence’ and rack up, at least, a dozen rides on this rig, to form a better informed opinion.  I’m looking forward to putting some serious saddle time on this ride and really beating the, I mean, really testing this machine to its fullest capabilities.  Stay tuned to Fat-bike.com for updates and a full review!

For more information about Framed Bikes visit – www.framedbikes.com